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Comics in good humor

Letter to the Editor | Monday, March 10, 2008

If I ever have any daughters in the future, I would love for them to attend a college like Saint Mary’s. However, as Liz Froehlke and others’ outrage illustrates, there is one thing that is clearly not being taught at Saint Mary’s: a sense of humor. You have to be able to poke fun at yourself. “Black Dog” ran a comic making fun of Georgians (Feb. 27), portraying them as wanting nothing more than a big trailer. I’ve lived in Georgia my entire life and never once set foot in a trailer. Yet I laughed. From the typecasted character of Cohutta on MTV’s “The Real World” to the brother-“loving” Georgia girl on “Nip/Tuck”, pop culture repeatedly represents Georgians in a stereotypical way. Yet they’re hilarious in their absurdity.

And that’s the point of the comics. You don’t get a caricature made at Disney World only to be outraged that it doesn’t look like you. Being offended at a comic that pokes fun at a Saint Mary’s education only reveals your inner insecurities about such an education. If we’re going to get offended at every comic that stretches the truth to the point of absurdity, we get stuck with poorly drawn pictures that only leave us confused (“Flu at ND” anyone?).

So I applaud Didier and the other comics that tread the line of absurdity. And if you disagree with me, you can find me in my ’69 Dodge Charger making out with my sister and writing my next Viewpoint about how the South should have won the War of Northern Aggression. Damn Yankees.